


Another Look at the Behavior of Leonard Snart and Mick Rory

by viviegirl05



Series: Wooing Barry [8]
Category: The Flash
Genre: Injured Barry, Multi, protective Len, protective dad Joe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 09:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10636845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viviegirl05/pseuds/viviegirl05
Summary: Len and Mick take Barry home when Caitlin clears him to leave. The next morning Joe shows up looking for his son. Len and Mick have a few things to say about that, not to mention what Barry has to say.





	

Barry was cleared to go home four hours after Len and Mick’s arrival. Caitlin gave instructions for Barry to eat plenty of food, but to otherwise do as little as possible, just relax in bed and take it easy. Mick and Len made it clear that they would be following her instructions to the letter.

When they got to the apartment, Mick carried Barry from the car - much to Barry’s embarrassment (though it was admittedly necessary). Mick settled Barry in the center of his bed, slipping him under the covers while Len fluffed the pillows so Barry would be propped up in a reclining seated position. Barry blushed furiously, but said nothing to stop them. When his stomach let out a grumble Len and Mick looked at him in equal parts concern, amusement, and fondness.

“Sounds like you’re hungry,” Len said.

“There are some sandwiches in the fridge, I’ll get you one while we cook,” Mick said. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Um…spaghetti with meatballs?” Barry suggested, knowing there were meatballs in the freezer ready to be thawed and eaten. He really was hungry- healing used up a lot of energy; he always needed to eat more when he was hurt.

“You got it Doll.”

“Anything you want,” Len added with a small smile.

“Thanks,” Barry blushed at the attention.

“Of course,” Mick said, pressing a kiss to his hair, carefully avoiding Barry’s fading- but still awful looking- bruise before he got up and left for the kitchen. Barry blushed harder.

“It’s a little late to start a Tolkien marathon tonight, so why don’t we start tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah,” Barry agreed, glancing over at the clock that read 9:03pm. “It is kinda late for a movie marathon.”

“So what do you want to watch while we eat? CSI? NCIS? Castle?”

“Castle,” Barry decided. He could go for some good comic relief, and Castle was always good for that. Len pulled up the DVR and scrolled through the recorded episodes of Castle.

“Any preference on episode?”

“The one with the mummy,” Barry said. “There! ‘Wrapped up in Death!’” He pointed.

“Excellent choice,” Mick rumbled, walking in with a large turkey sandwich, a bottle of water, and a bag of chips for Barry. Len grabbed a towel from the bathroom to lay over Barry’s lap and catch crumbs.

“Mmm,” Barry hummed, reaching for the food eagerly. Len and Mick chuckled at the sight of Barry and his unending appetite.

Len and Mick settled on the bed on either side of Barry as Len clicked ‘play.’ They watched in companionable silence, Mick getting up at one point to add the pasta to the water he had put on to boil, returning with two plates of spaghetti and meatballs for Barry and Len. He made a second trip to get his own plate and three more water bottles for them. By then the episode had ended.

“Another?” Len asked, looking at Barry with undisguised reverence.

“Yeah, the space one- ‘The Final Frontier,’” Barry used the remote to select his chosen episode.

Len collected their plates when they were done eating, stacking them on the bedside table for later. He and Mick kept one eye on Barry and one on the TV; about five minutes from the end of the episode Barry nodded off.

Len switched off the TV. He and Mick delicately maneuvered Barry so he was lying down under the covers with his head on a pillow, careful to not wake him up. Before they left, they each pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. Len grabbed the dishes as they crept out of the room; Mick flipped off the lights before softly closing the door behind them.

***

7am the next morning, Joe West was pounding on the door to what he knew was Barry’s new apartment- the one he shared with Leonard Snart and Mick Rory.

“Would you keep it down,” Rory rumbled sleepily as he opened the door.

“Where is my son?” Joe growled, shoving his way into the apartment.

“Detective, please,” Snart caught his arm. “Barry is sleeping, and we don’t want to wake him. He needs rest- doctor’s orders.”

“Where is he, Snart,” Joe growled in Snart's face.

“As I said, he’s sleeping,” Snart replied coolly.

“What did you do to him?”

“Nothing, Detective. I assure you, we are just as concerned about Barry’s health and safety as you are. But if he is going to heal, he will need plenty of rest.”

“So let’s keep it down, yeah?” Rory had wandered to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.

“I saw what happened, the fight- no way he isn’t seriously hurting after that.”

“And had you come by STAR Labs after you would have seen that his whole body was essentially one giant black and purple bruise, not to mention the broken and fractured bones.”

Joe grit his teeth; he had wanted to rush off to STAR Labs as soon as they had loaded the meta into a squad car, but his presence had been required for press control.

Snart had drifted to the kitchen after Rory and was pulling down three mugs- one with snowflakes, one painted to look like it was on fire, and a plain blue one.

“Caitlin told me his injuries, but I want to see for myself that he’s alright,” Joe was still growling.

“Well if you promise not to wake him up, you can go peek at him in his room, it’s the last door on the left down the hall,” Rory gestured to the general direction, staring at the coffee machine as if he could will it to brew faster.

Joe glared, but said nothing as he stormed down the hall in the direction Rory had indicated. He eased open the door to Barry’s room and tip-toed inside, shutting the door quietly behind him. Barry was sleeping peacefully on his back, one arm over the covers, pulling them up to his chin. As Joe crept closer, he spotted the bruises on his face- now a mottled green and yellow- and one arm, also green and yellow, with two fingers taped together with a tongue depressor. He looked so fragile like this, so small and _human_. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Barry was just a man, just as susceptible to injury as everyone else. It always terrified Joe when he got beat up like this.

Creeping from the room, he slipped out and silently shut the door behind him. When he returned to the kitchen, Rory was filling the mugs with coffee, Snart taking one and adding cream and sugar, Rory taking his black. To Joe’s surprise, Rory held out the third mug to him.

“Cream or sugar?” Snart asked, indicating to the items on the counter.

“No thanks, I like it black.” Joe replied, cautiously taking the mug.

“S’the only way to drink it,” Rory murmured over the rim of his mug. Joe grunted his agreement as he took a sip from his mug. It was delicious, probably French Roast if he were to guess.

“So,” Joe started. Snart indicated the chair across from him at the table he had sat at, Rory joining him in the chair next to Snart. “What do you want from Barry?”

“What do we want? We don’t want anything from Barry. We want to make sure he’s in top shape for fighting crime in Central City.”

“Why? You guys expect me to believe that you’re giving up your thieving ways?”

“Of course not, Detective, but what fun is committing a crime if there isn’t a hero to fight?” Snart smirked over the rim of his mug.

“So, you’re telling me that you’re doing all this, feeding Barry, taking care of him when he’s injured, just so you can fight him later?” Joe raised a skeptical eyebrow at the duo.

“Would you believe that we're doing it out of the goodness of our hearts and because we genuinely care about Barry?” Snart raised an eyebrow of his own.

“Of course not,” Joe scoffed.

“Then yeah, we’re doing it so we can fight him later.”

Thus began a staring contest between the two men. The tense silence was only interrupted when one of them would occasionally take a sip of coffee. It really was damn good coffee.

At around a quarter past eight they heard a noise coming from Barry’s room.

“Len? Mick?” Barry called sleepily.

The men in question jumped to their feet, rushing to the hall and Barry’s room.

“Hey Doll, how’re you feeling?” Rory asked.

“Hm, a little thirsty.” Almost instantly Snart was holding out a glass of water for Barry.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, taking a sip of water.

“Of course, Scarlet, anything you need,” Snart said gently.

Something about the way Snart and Rory were looking at Barry was unsettling. They looked at him with...love? Did they _love_ Barry? The way they fawned over him, helping him sit up, fluffing and stacking the pillows to prop him up, it sure as hell looked like they cared about him…

“Joe, hey,” Barry smiled as he noticed his foster father.

“Hey Bear,” Joe smiled back.

“We’re going to go make some breakfast. Do you need anything?”

“No, I’m good for now. Thanks,” Barry beamed up at Snart and Rory.

“Detective – “

“I’ll stay and talk to my son,” Joe said firmly, leaving no room for arguing.

“Alright,” Snart murmured in his ear, “but nothing too serious, Barry’s supposed to be taking it easy this weekend.”

Joe nodded stiffly and the two criminals left. The sound of movement in the kitchen filtered back to him a few seconds later before Joe shut the door.

“So,” Joe sighed, stepping over to the side of the bed. “Snart and Rory.”

“Joe, please,” Barry looked so small in the giant bed, looking up at Joe with his big puppy dog eyes. “They’re really great- just give them a chance.”

“I get it Bear, they’re taking care of you. They cook for you, they found you this great apartment….”

“But…they’re criminals. You’re never going to be able to get past that, are you?” Barry looked up at him dejectedly.

“I don’t know, Bear," Joe ran a hand over his hair. "It’s just…Snart and Rory? They’ve tried to kill you in the past, what’s to stop them from trying again?”

“No, Joe, listen, it’s not like that! Len and Mick were never really trying to hurt me!”

Joe raised his eyebrows sardonically.

“No, really. That first time, when they kidnapped Caitlin – “

“And strapped her to a bomb,” Joe interjected.

“Ok, yeah, they strapped her to a bomb, but they honestly thought that either they or I would be the ones to find her. Len and Mick obviously knew how to avoid tripping the bomb, and I could have gotten her all the way to STAR Labs before the bomb went off. And the timer was slow enough that you were able to push Cisco out of the way and pull Caitlin to safety. Not to mention that the bomb was so small that no serious damaged would have happened anyway.”

“That doesn’t make it ok,” Joe said.

“I know, I’m just saying- they never actually planned to hurt her, they thought she was perfectly safe.”

“Ok, but what about you? While Cisco and I were off rescuing Caitlin, they were trying to kill you in front of the CCPD and a dozen news cameras.”

“They weren’t actually trying to kill me, they were just trying to find my limits. And every time after that they always aimed for a limb, or to the side of me, or made it really obvious where they were going to shoot, making it easy for me to dodge.”

“Mmhm. They were still shooting at you,” Joe pointed out.

“Yes, but they didn’t actually want to hurt me! They were just playing with me, having fun! It’s kind of a game with us, them stealing something, me showing up to stop them…”

“A _game?_ Barry, they’ve stolen millions of dollars’ worth of art and jewels, caused tens of thousands of dollars in property damage, and all of that is a _game?!_ ” Joe practically shouted.

“Joe – “

“What’s going on?” Snart burst into the room, quickly followed by Rory.

“You alright Doll?” They flew to his side, searching for any sign of distress.

“I’m fine guys, really…” Barry gave them a weak smile.

“Alright, breakfast is almost ready. Detective, would you help me plate everything up?” Snart looked at Joe. Though his tone was friendly enough, his icy glare made it clear that he wasn’t asking. For the sake of not upsetting Barry when he was hurt, Joe agreed, following Snart to the kitchen, leaving Rory to fawn over Barry.

“I think it’s time for you to leave, Detective.” Snart said curtly when they reached the kitchen.

“Excuse me?” Joe said incredulously.

“Clearly you are upsetting Barry, and we can’t have that. He needs to rest and heal. You’ll see him on Monday at work.” Snart ushered Joe to the door and opened it for him.

“You think you know what’s best for my son, Snart?” Joe growled.

“He’s not your son, he’s Doc Allen’s son, and the Doc wouldn’t want you upsetting Barry either. Time to go.”

Joe gaped as Snart shut the door in his face.

***

Joe was sitting in the armchair in the living room, sipping scotch and thinking when Iris walked in the front door.  
“Hey Dad,” she smiled brightly at him before noticing the glass of scotch in his hand. “Something wrong?”

Joe heaved a sigh. “Barry.”

“Ah,” Iris replied as she took a seat on the sofa.

“It’s just,” Joe sighed again, staring into his scotch as if, if he looked hard enough, he could find the answers to all his questions. “He’s living with those two killers…”

“Len and Mick aren’t like what you think, Dad.” Iris looked at him earnestly. “You should have seen them yesterday, how worried they were about Barry, it was actually really sweet.”

“Iris, not you too.” Joe said beseechingly

“No Dad, I mean it. They gave him their coats to keep him warm, and they fed him bites of one of his calorie bars and gave him water, made sure he was as comfortable as possible, it was heartwarming, really.”

“Iris, they’re criminals. They steal things. They hurt people. They’re bad people.”

“They’re really not Dad. I mean, yeah, they steal things, but they always set off the alarms. You know how often Len did that before Barry became the Flash? Never. Not once since he was 24, since then he’s gotten in and out with whatever he wanted undetected. You know why he sets off the alarms now? Because of Barry. Because he and Mick like him, like fighting him, talking to him, _flirting_ with him. They could still be getting in and out undetected if they wanted, but they don’t. They set off the alarms and alert the Flash that they’re up to something, giving him a chance to stop them. If they didn’t do that they might never get caught. And they go out of their way to hurt Barry as little as possible. When they found out who Barry was, they didn’t tell anyone. I’ve done some digging, the Russian mob- the Ivankov’s- were sniffing around, trying to figure out the identity of the Flash, and Mick and Len put a stop to it! They protected Barry’s identity without anything to gain.”

“Why hasn’t the CCPD heard anything about that? We haven’t found any bodies…” Joe frowned.

“Len and Mick don’t kill anymore, Dad. You know that. They made a deal with Barry that they wouldn’t kill anymore and they’ve stuck to it. They just scared the guys enough to leave town.”

“Yeah, well,” Joe huffed, “that don't mean they’re good people. They still cause a ton of property damage, even if nobody dies.”

“Actually, I looked up all the fights between Captain Cold and Heatwave and the Flash; the amount of property damage has been going down significantly with each successive heist. They’ve been learning how to not damage anything when they fight the Flash. And it kinda looks like they’ve been letting the Flash win sometimes, like they were just doing it to have a chance to flirt with Barry.”

“Yeah, well…”

“And have you noticed? Barry has been happier lately. Like, a lot happier. Happier than he’s been since before the lightning. And he’s been healthier- you can ask Caitlin. He’s been eating better and more regularly, he hasn’t risked hypoglycemia in weeks Dad. That’s because of Mick and Len, they’re taking care of him. They make him happy, and if you really care about Barry...maybe you should let them.”

Joe stayed silent at that, not sure what to say.

“Just think about it Dad,” Iris patted his shoulder as she got up to leave.

Maybe Snart and Rory- Len and Mick- _were_ good for Barry. The more Joe thought about it, the more he had to agree with his daughter. Barry _had_ been happier lately. He _had_ been eating better. Joe couldn't recall the last time he'd had to remind the boy to eat. And the way they were taking care of Barry this morning…Joe supposed he could conceded that they were good for Barry, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.

Joe downed the rest of his scotch.

Wait a minute, he froze as he was about to stand up. Didn’t Snart mention that he knew Henry Allen earlier?

Joe needed another drink.


End file.
